Speaking in Tongues
by Jimmy the Gothic Egg
Summary: More drabbles from the Latin language. Zuko and Katara save the world, fall madly in love, and try not to kill each other. It's all very sweet.


Officially desperate for some _Fables_ fanfiction, but I'll head back to my Zutara corner for a little while.

Noticed a second poster filled with Latin phrases and their meanings and, well, I can't resist.

Now with translations! (I'll probably change the first one to include translations as well.)

_Speaking in Tongues_

**pro tempore  
**_for the time being  
_"I don't like you," Katara said, "but we have to work together." The '_for now_' hung in the air like a threat, which it pretty much was.

Zuko supposed their friendship could've started off worse.

**actio in personam**  
_personal action  
_"Here we are again, my son."

Zuko's grip tightened on the blades. The waterbender's eyes were on him, the fallen Avatar held close in her arms. All the rage Zuko had been holding back built up inside of him, and he struck.

**alibi  
**_presence elsewhere  
_Katara continued to be suspicious of him whenever he left her sight for more than a minute. Finally, he snapped.

"You're right!" he said. "In the last five minutes, I walked back to the Fire Nation, gave away all the information I've gathered from you, and walked back."

She glared until he sighed and explained again.

**ipso facto**  
_by the fact itself  
_Sokka, as usual, did not approve of his sister's actions.

"I don't see what your problem is, Sokka," Katara said, examining the new necklace in a mirror. For someone who'd never touched wood to do anything but stay where it was, it was alright, even if it looked a bit like someone started taking out his anger on it. "You even said he was an all right guy, for a—"

"For a firebender, Katara! _Fire_bender! Remember? Remember that whole big thing we just did with the saving of the world from his friends?"

She didn't even have to look at him for the glare to take effect. It was its own presence which started to make him very uncomfortable.

"Anyway, watching you two together is like watching two moose-lions fight over the last bit of meat before winter sets in. If I thought he was going to be an important part of your future, I would have pushed him into the abyss long ago."

"That's very nice, Sokka," she answered, not really listening anymore. "But the real problem here is I don't think I have anything to go with this necklace."

He sighed. They'd have another long talk later, as soon as they were done shopping.

**ab initio  
**_from the beginning  
_"From the beginning you have done nothing but infuriate me!" Katara shouted. "Then you _kiss me_ like it'll make me feel better!"

"Did it work?" Zuko asked.

She smiled and kissed him again.

**per curiam**  
_by the court  
_Zuko didn't get to see the hangings, but the soldiers talked about them. The royal family would soon run out of members, they said, and glanced at him. He got to see Mai and Ty Lee in prison, the latter who was taking it very well, and the former who was refusing to speak to him. Everyone he'd once been allied with was gone, and he felt strange about it.

He also felt Katara's hand on his shoulder when they decided he'd done enough for the cause to warrant freedom. She smiled at him and said, see, it isn't going to be bad forever.

It felt nice.

**per se  
**_by itself  
_When Katara had said 'it's not so bad,' it reminded Zuko of being dangled above a pool of tiger-sharks. It wasn't so bad, because you weren't actually _in_ the pool of tiger-sharks, though the rope was probably too tight and hard to breathe in. 'It's not too bad,' was what people said before it got worse. Katara had said 'it's not so bad' when they were _traveling_ to the South Water Tribe. Then they'd gotten there, and Katara had said, "Zuko, this is Gran-Gran."

At that point, it was officially bad.

**pro forma  
**_as a matter of form  
_After Zuko had spent a considerable amount of time gibbering to Katara, she groaned and said, "You are so slow!"

He was twice as surprised when she kissed him.

**mala fides  
**_bad faith  
_Katara landed a solid punch on Azula. It felt good and painful at the same time and was decidedly unexpected. It also knocked her out.

And then Zuko yelled out, "I was _totally_ going to save you if you'd waited a little longer!"

She rolled her eyes at him. "It was taking you forever! Will you just let me handle my own saving, please?" She rubbed her knuckles and glanced down at the unconscious princess. "I also think my hand hurts now. A lot."

He walked up beside her and glanced at it. "You still don't trust me."

"Will you lay off the issue? Anyway, you did just stand at the door in shock and horror for an obscenely long amount of time."

"Because I thought she was going to _kill_ you!"

"Good job saving me then."

"Will both of you _shut up_?" Azula said from the floor, grabbing Zuko by the leg and pulling him down. "I think I'm getting a headache."

**bona fides  
**_good faith  
_"Aang, you were the first one to trust him."

"I know that."

"I distinctly remember you saying, 'Let's trust Zuko.'"

"I don't think I used those exact words."

"You really shouldn't be so against him."

I said 'trust him,' Aang thought bitterly, not 'sleep with him.'

**mala in se  
**_wrong in itself  
_"Ugh," said Azula from within her cell. "This is just wrong."

Ty Lee's voice carried over, saying, "What is it?"

"I got an invitation from my brother—"

"That's nice of him."

"—to his wedding—"

There was a crash from Mai's holding cell, and the sound of a guard being impaled.

"—with that little waterbender."

Mai appeared in front of her and said, "Let's go."

**mala prohibita  
**_prohibited by law  
_Katara found Zuko and said, "Your sister broke out of prison and brought us a wedding gift. I think she might be insane."

As they ran towards the commotion, Zuko said, "Isn't she in prison?"

"Has that stopped her before?"

Azula was waiting for them, smiling widely. Before she could say anything, Zuko said, "You're not allowed to be here."

Her smile did not disappear. "Why ever not? I got an invitation."

Katara felt dread sink into her. Well that had gone badly.

"You're supposed to be in jail."

"Prison walls don't matter when it comes to family. After all, I care for you—"

"That's the most bold-faced lie you've ever told," Zuko said.

"—and Mai was desperate to come—"

Katara reacted as quickly as she could, but one spike hit Zuko right in the ear. She was lucky enough, as a fellow woman scorned, to block the first shot, which saved them many future children.

**res getae  
**_the subject matter  
_It took only a little training for Zuko to finally understand that when Katara asked 'what do you think of this,' she really meant 'agree with me or face death.'

In the end, he thought this whole thing with marriage was starting to look more and more like the executioners' chair.

**lex scripta  
**_the written law  
_The good thing about the law was that there were so many loopholes. So when Zuko read the thing involving the necklace, he gave some of the best lawyers the chance to not spend a night in prison if they searched for one.

It was decided, later, when they came up with something short of nothing, that the first option might have been the better one.

**Notes:**

That last one is definitely a nod at _Culture Clash_ by the fabulous Rashaka. The only marriage ones definitely connected are _mala in se_ and _mala prohibita_.


End file.
